Wildlife

The horns of the gemsbok

1 October 2015

The gemsbok has no English name and is one of four species of the genus Oryx that occur in Africa and Arabia. Both genders carry long, rapier-like, swept-back horns, but those of the cow are more slender and form a more acute angle than those of the bull which are more robust and widely V-shaped. Bulls and cows are about 1.2 m high at the shoulder, but the bull weighs some 240 kg and the cow 210 kg... (Become a subscriber for more)